Off Of My Chest
by JRDD0904
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are best friends. They are also in love with each other, but that's the last thing they want either to find out about. A series(?) of one-shots about how they finally get their feelings off of their chests.
1. 1 - Better Than Being Over It

**Off Of My Chest**

What happens when two best friends are also secretly in love with each other? Awkwardness. Angst. Maybe even a little Anger. It'd be nice to just admit your feelings.

That, unfortunately, is much easier said than done.

* * *

I - Better Than Being Over It

_In which Annabeth is ranting about her latest (small) crush, and Percy relates more than she realizes._

_**Mortal High School AU | Third Person**_

* * *

**Percy**

"It's just so hard to tell a person that you have a crush on them, you know?"

As they often are on Friday nights, Annabeth and Percy were curled up on a couch in Percy's living room. Annabeth was spilling her feelings and Percy was there to support her, and so everything was right in the world. Well, almost everything.

"If something scares you, but you think it would also make you happy, you should probably do it," Percy replied. It was rather ironic; here he was telling Annabeth to admit her feelings, and yet he had been unable to admit his own for the past four years. It was different in his case, he supposed, since his crush was a rather important part of his life.

As luck would have it, Percy Jackson was in love with his best friend.

"You know you always say that, right?" Annabeth replied with a sigh. It was true, after all; whenever she had even an inkling of feelings for someone, Percy always encouraged her to go after them.

"Well it's true. If you think something will make you happy, you shouldn't give up on it." Once again, Percy couldn't help but shudder at the irony in his words.

_Unless you're already happy and you don't want to ruin it,_ he thought to himself.

"Not to be rude or anything, but I don't think you fully understand what I'm feeling like now. You've never even had feelings for a person."

Percy couldn't help but feel his heart drop at Annabeth's words, but he also can't blame her; for all she knows, he doesn't have an ounce of romantic feelings in him. It'll have to stay that way, too, lest she find out his true feelings and gets uncomfortable with their friendship. He can't deny it doesn't hurt, harboring feelings for his best friend, but he'd much rather keep a strong friendship than risking losing everything.

_Being blue is better than being over it, I guess_, Percy sighed internally. He'd heard that in a song once.

* * *

"I think he's a pretty good guy. I mean, I don't know him all that well, but he just seems like a nice person."

Yet another Friday, yet another small crush for Annabeth. It's not that Percy hated these times – any time with Annabeth was a good time for him – but he wasn't exactly fond of hearing her talk about other guys.

_I'm a nice person too,_ Percy thought to himself. He won't say it out loud, of course, and so he says what he always says on Friday nights.

"If you really think it'll work out, I say go for it."

It hurts to say that, but it's what he has to do, right?

"But that's the thing, Percy, I don't know if it'll work out," Annabeth replied. "You know as well as I do that I like to have a solid plan, but you can't just plan these things out. Not that you'd know or anything."

Percy stiffened at those last words. He realized that Annabeth's words probably sound harsher than she had meant, but he couldn't help but feel a little angry. It's not as if he's ever explicitly told Annabeth that he doesn't like anyone, he's just never mentioned that he did.

"Believe it or not, Annabeth, I do know. More than you'd think, by the way." Percy recoiled at his own words; they definitely came out harsher than he had meant.

"What does that mean?" Annabeth sharply replied.

"Nothing, nevermind, it's not a big deal." Percy tried to retreat, but he knows he's already entered dangerous territory. And an angry Annabeth isn't often a good thing.

"Not a big deal? Not a _big deal? _Here I am, spilling my heart out to you, and you've been keeping secrets from me?"

Percy couldn't help but get even angrier. _You have no idea how much it hurts to keep this from you, _he thinks. Of course, that's not what he says.

"It's not like that! Besides, it's really not a big thing, I doubt you'd even care."

"Even care? Of course I would care! YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND, SEAWEED BRAIN! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D THINK THAT POORLY OF ME!" Annabeth burst out.

"That's not at all what this is!" Percy exclaimed. "You know that I think the world of you, Wise Girl." _I don't just think the world of you, you are the world,_ he says silently.

Annabeth pauses, and starts to settle down. Percy knows she's still upset, but he's glad their fight hasn't escalated.

"And I think the world of you too. But I also think I'll call it a night now. I'll see you at school, Percy." Annabeth murmured, and with that she grabbed her bag and headed out the front door.

Percy definitely felt blue for the rest of the weekend.

* * *

**Annabeth**

"_Believe it or not, Annabeth, I do know. More than you'd think, by the way."_

Annabeth couldn't stop thinking about Percy's words. It hurt to think that Percy Jackson, her best and closest friend for years, was holding secrets from her. It hurt even more to know that Percy was indeed capable of having romantic feelings for a girl.

A girl that wasn't Annabeth.

Annabeth wasn't sure when she'd fallen in love with Percy. But she knew for sure that he was special. It would never work out, of course; they were best friends, and the truth of her feelings would cause a rift between them. It's why she tries to distract herself with other boys at school. It never works, though, and every Friday night, when she's snuggling up with Percy, she can't help but feel sad that they'll never go further.

And now that there's someone else? It's like a punch to the gut.

_He's still my friend though,_ she thought to herself. _And I'll always be in his corner. Just like he's always been in mine._

But that's in the future. And right now? It hurts.

* * *

**Percy**

Mondays tend to suck.

No one really likes school. Even Annabeth, the smartest person in Percy's world, can't deny that coming back to classes after two days of freedom isn't great.

This Monday, however, was exceptionally sucky. Percy's was going to see Annabeth for the first time since Friday night, and they were definitely going to talk about it. Percy wasn't too excited, because he only saw things going one of two ways:

He maintains his lie, Annabeth doesn't forgive him, and their friendship is lost forever.

He tells the truth, Annabeth doesn't feel the same way, and their friendship is lost forever.

There are probably other things that can happen, but Percy was too anxious to think about them.

In fact, he was too anxious to realize that Annabeth was now standing in front of him, while he looked blankly at the wall like a dazed idiot.

"Hey Seaweed Brain."

Percy flinched; he really wasn't ready to have this conversation, and the whole Monday morning thing wasn't helping.

"Um, hello? Earth to Perseus Jackson?"

_What the hell am I going to say? _He thought to himself. He's really panicking now, but a single thought pops into his mind.

"_If something scares you, but you think it would also make you happy, you should probably do it."_

Maybe it was finally time to take his own advice. Time to stop feeling blue.

"Percy, are you even in there?" Annabeth asked, a look of worry growing on her face.

"Sorry, yeah, I'm good – I was just thinking. And uh, I think I owe you an explanation about -"

"Percy, it's fine, really. I'm not upset anymore." Annabeth interrupted. Percy almost considers dropping everything, but he knows he has to keep going.

"No, Annabeth, it's not fine. I kept a secret from you, and I shouldn't have, and I owe it to you to explain why."

_Now or never._

"The truth is, I do have a crush. A big one in fact. I'm probably even past the whole crush stage. I'm probably madly in love. But the reason I never told you is that I couldn't. Believe me, I wanted to tell you from the minute I realized how I felt, but it was too big of a risk. I mean, you've said it yourself. It's just so hard to tell a person that you have a crush on them."

* * *

**Annabeth**

"_It's just so hard to tell a person that you have a crush on them."_

The gears in Annabeth's head were spinning so fast they could have flown right out. There she was, ready to suppress her feelings for her best friend once again, only for him to drop an absolute bombshell.

He liked her too. Her Seaweed Brain. Who she loved so much. Loved her back.

For the first time in Annabeth's life, she was speechless. So she did the only thing that made sense – she planted her lips onto his. Unexpected perhaps, and yet Annabeth could feel her heart flutter when she felt Percy return the kiss.

"Thank the gods," she heard Percy mutter as they finally pulled away. "I didn't think you'd like me back."

"I don't like you, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth replied. "I love you."

Annabeth pulled Percy into another kiss, and time seems to stop. For the first time in a long time, everything feels right.

Sure, they end up being late for their homeroom. It doesn't matter though, nor does anything else, because they're finally together.

* * *

**Author's Notes**:

\- Not gonna lie, this didn't turn out as good as I hoped it would. I guess that happens with your first ever story, but still, I would've liked it to feel less rushed.

\- The title was meant to be a bigger theme in this story (bonus points if you know where it's from), but that fell apart near the end.

\- I'd like for this to be the first in a series of one-shots, but I really don't know how frequently I'll be able to write more pieces. I'll try my best though. I can't guarantee any further pieces will be as long as this one (this was way longer than I thought it would be), but again, I'll try my best.

**Thanks for reading! – _JRDD0904_**


	2. 2 - About Time

II – About Time

_In which Percy and Annabeth's friendship was rock solid, until the day that it wasn't._

**Some Kind of AU | Third Person**

* * *

Nine years, one-hundred and three days, and give or take fifteen minutes.

That's how long Percy and Annabeth lived the best years of their lives.

Exactly five years to the minute.

That's how long it's been since either one has said a word to the other.

Their once rock-solid friendship shouldn't have ended the way it did. If you asked those around them, they were not only inseparable, but a perfect pairing. Like peanut butter and jelly, cookies and milk, popcorn and melted butter. But better. Way better. They knew each other like the backs of their hands, they could not only finish but also start each other's sentences, and if telepathy were a thing, they'd definitely have it. In other words, they were the perfect pair of friends.

Until the day they fell in love with each other.

How, when, or why it happened doesn't matter. Not anymore. What does matter is what happened because of it.

And what exactly did happen?

Well, it wasn't pretty.

* * *

The rather sucky thing about falling in love with your best friend is that you immediately find yourself at a crossroads: you can either tell them, find out they don't feel the same way, and effectively ruin your friendship, or you can keep it a secret, and live with a constant desire for more that'll tear you apart and put a strain on the friendship. Obviously, there is another possibility in which in you confess your feelings and things work out beautifully, but there's too much risk.

For both Percy and Annabeth, the risk was not worth the reward.

And so they both kept silent, living their best lives with their best friends while simultaneously tearing themselves up over their feelings. With every act of friendship; every smile, every hug, every touch of the hand; they couldn't help but think about a future they could hope for but never get.

If only they knew what the other was thinking.

So much for telepathy, huh?

* * *

As you might have expected, Percy and Annabeth could only take the pain of suppressing their love for so long. In a perfect world, Percy would have awkwardly confessed with a bouquet of flowers, stumbling over his words. Or maybe Annabeth would have made some blue heart-shaped cookies. Or maybe they would just randomly start kissing each other. Who knows?

But the world isn't perfect, and so instead of coming closer together, they drifted apart. Percy found solitude in swimming; it was the one part of his life that seemed to go the way he wanted it to. He trained long and hard, and quickly became a rising prospect who not only could get a full-ride scholarship to a top university, but might also make it to the Olympics.

In the meantime, while Percy was living at the pool, Annabeth dove further into architecture. Her knowledge expanded exponentially, and her creative skills flourished. By the time she was a junior in high school, she'd already popped up on several big firms' radars; once she was in university, she was guaranteed a quality internship.

As they slowly started to separate from one another, they also began to meet other people. Percy's newfound athletic stardom led him to befriend Jason Grace, an all-around athlete who could go pro if he wanted to. Annabeth's connections in the architecture circuit led her to meet Luke Castellan, a popular student-body president with a secret love for building design.

At first, it was good that they found new people to take their mind off of each other.

And then it wasn't so good.

And then it sucked.

* * *

After being around Jason and his high-school sweetheart Piper for almost three straight years, Percy wasn't exactly feeling the love. Seeing the happiness between the two only reminded him of his love for Annabeth, and drifting apart from her in high school wasn't doing him any favours. Sure, they still hung out every Friday night, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss walking home with her after school, or spending every single lunch with her. And so, after years of hiding his feelings, he finally decided to do something. Finally, in their junior year of high school, after however many years of being in love with Annabeth Chase, Percy was finally going to tell her.

Around the same time, Annabeth also decided to do something about her feelings. Unfortunately, she had a much different idea: after years of pain from hiding her love, she decided to rewrite her story and ask out her next closest friend, Luke. Maybe she'd finally get past her feelings for Percy, and they could finally go back to being the close friends they had been years before.

I'll let you guess how this one turned out.

* * *

No one knows exactly what happened between Percy and Annabeth. They both wanted to tell each other something important one day, but it became the last day they ever spoke.

All Jason knows is that for a week Percy was preparing himself for the big reveal, and afterward, he was never the same. But not for the better.

Likewise, all Luke knows is that only a few days after being asked out by Annabeth, she canceled their date and retreated altogether. Something about her changed, but he never pressed further.

It didn't take long for everyone else to do the math. Soon, everybody realized that the new and unimproved Percy and Annabeth were products of each other, but to this day, no one knows what exactly what happened.

No one really wanted to know.

Because something that could split them up?

It had to have been really, really bad.

* * *

And so, for five straight years, Percy and Annabeth did not speak a single word to each other. The once dynamic duo now acted as if the other didn't exist. As a matter of fact, they acted as if the other had never existed. As if everything that had ever happened between them never did.

It sucked.

Secretly, both of them would give anything to go back to the slow-burning angst of being in love, because at least they would have their best friend back.

Instead, they had to live their lives alone.

When Annabeth was accepted into the best architecture program in the world, Percy wasn't there to congratulate her. And it hurt.

When, by some miracle, Percy had met the academic requirements for NYU and gotten a full swimming scholarship, Annabeth wasn't there to celebrate. And it hurt.

When Annabeth landed an internship at the biggest architectural firm in the country, Percy wasn't there to say he never doubted her. And it hurt.

When Percy made it to the Olympics and won a gold medal, Annabeth wasn't on the sidelines cheering him on. And it hurt.

* * *

No one knows if they were angry at the other, or angry at themselves for losing the other. But, even though they refused to acknowledge what happened between them, it was clear as day that they were in pain.

Finally, while they were both in their last year of university, Percy decided to make things right. He knew this was his last chance to do something before they both set off into their adult lives; if nothing happened now, they would be so caught up in vastly different careers that they'd likely never see each other again.

He wasn't sure if Annabeth would want to talk to him, but he didn't blame her. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, he was the one who started the argument that ended their friendship. So he decided to write her a letter. It'd be better this way, since he was famous for stuttering and this was not something he'd want to stutter through.

_Dear Annabeth,_

_I don't know if you'll get this letter. If you do, I don't know if you'll want to read it, but if you've made it this far, please keep going._

_I wanted to tell you I'm sorry. For everything. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, because quite frankly I don't think I deserve it, but I need you to know that what happened between us wasn't your fault._

_I guess I'll start from the beginning: I'm in love with you. Not "was," not "might have been," but __**am**__. Always have been, probably always will be. I'm not really sure when it started, but it definitely started long before what happened had happened._

_As you very well know, I was a pretty stupid kid. I thought there was no way that you'd ever think of me that way, and even if you did, I thought you deserved better than me. And so I never told you, which was incredibly stupid. Eventually, hanging out with you became too much for me to handle, and so I drifted away._

_In sophomore year, however, I decided to give it a shot. Honestly, I was sick and tired of Jason and Piper eating each other's faces every day at lunch. And so finally, I decided to tell you, but it happened to be the same day you told me about your date with Luke. You know the rest._

_I'm sorry for getting so defensive. I should never have said what I said; you had and have every right to do whatever you want, and it was ridiculous of me to think that I should have a say. Unfortunately, by the time I realized that I figured it was too late to make amends, and so I kept my distance._

_It sucked._

_Not because I'm in love with you, but because you were my best friend. I lived these past few years feeling like I was missing a part of myself, and if you felt the same way, then please believe me when I say that I am so, so sorry. My feelings for you aside, you were and always will be the best friend I've ever had, and I hate myself for putting you through this._

_If I could do it all over again, I would do whatever it takes to prevent this, because losing my best friend was the worst thing I've ever had to live through._

_I've probably written more in this letter than I have for any essay I've handed in, so I'll end it here. If you want to talk to me, you know where to find me. Neither my number nor my address has changed. The choice is yours, of course; I won't ask you to come back into my life, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping that you will._

_With love,_

_Seaweed Brain._

* * *

Percy wasn't sure if his letter got through. Thankfully, he was able to get an address from Piper, who had become one of Annabeth's better friends in the past few years, but he didn't have high hopes.

After a few weeks, he'd heard nothing. He was sad, but he felt a bit better knowing that he'd at least tried to do something.

* * *

One night, his doorbell rang. _Finally,_ Percy thought. He had been waiting a long time for that pizza.

As you might expect, the person at the door was not holding his deep-dish pepperoni.

"Hi Percy. I got your letter." said the person, and Percy couldn't help but shiver at the sound of her voice. Gods, it had been so long since he'd heard it.

"Hey Annabeth. It's really nice to see-" Percy tried to reply, but he was cut off by something he'd never expected.

Annabeth had pulled him into a kiss.

And it was probably the best kiss of all time.

After what felt like hours, Percy pulled away from Annabeth and took a moment to take her in. While the both of them hadn't changed much since high school, he still found her to be more beautiful than he ever remembered.

"Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth said, breaking the silence. It had been a long time since she'd used that nickname.

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

* * *

After a few hours of talking, they were able to hash everything out.

They laughed when they learned they had feelings for each other at the same time.

They shuffled nervously when they talked about what had happened between them.

They cried when they talked about their lives without each other.

And finally, they decided to try it again.

"Whatever happens, Wise Girl, I'll never let go of you again."

"As long as we're together, Seaweed Brain, I don't care what happens. As long as we're together."

Nine years, one-hundred and three days, and give or take fifteen minutes.

For five years, Percy and Annabeth thought that the best part of their lives had come and gone.

But now, the best part of their lives will be a lot longer.

No one knows what happened in the first place that broke them apart.

No one knows how they got back together, or how their friendship evolved into something beautiful.

But there is one thing that everybody knows:

It's about time.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

\- Hot diggity this was a long one. (I mean, 2k words aren't that much, but the first time I tried to write this I got stuck at 500, so)

\- Something about the whole "they were friends, then they broke up, then they became friends again, then they started dating" plotline is really fun to write. Maybe one day I'll turn this one-shot into a longer story.

\- I wrote this in about two hours, and I don't really know how I feel about the pacing. Like the first entry in this series, I think I rushed the ending too much.

\- There's also, like, no dialogue in this story, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

\- The super vague timeline is also a little weird, but I also like how it's open for interpretation.

\- I probably could have either made more use out of Jason and Piper, or not included them entirely, but whatever.

\- Hopefully, the next one-shot doesn't take two weeks of procrastinating to write. I guess we'll see.

**Thanks for reading! – JRDD0904**


End file.
